Fire and Ice
by The Never Minder
Summary: Probably AU, Ben 10k universe. Kevin and Julie discuss Devlin's eyes.


"Isn't he cute?" Julie crooned, reaching into the wooden crib to stroke the baby's face. The boy paused, unused to the affection, before leaning into the touch, gurgling and staring up at them. Julie cast a sidelong glance at the man beside her. "You would know that if you were here more."

Kevin gritted his yellowing teeth, using all his self control not to ball his hands into fists and…he let the thought slide away, staring at the dark-haired child. The baby _was_ cute, he had to admit. Proof, maybe, that he had done something right in the last ten years of his life.

And as irritating as Julie was, she didn't seem to be doing too bad of a job with the kid. The room was child-proofed and adorned with all the little things that were to be expected in a nursery—cute animals on the wallpaper, little toys on the floor, and a changing table on the opposite wall next to a large window, the only one in the room.

Outside, it was a pretty decent day as far as Saturn weather was concerned. The whole scene was almost…normal. Kevin thought he hadn't done too badly with his little family, though there was no arguing that conditions might have been better under other circumstances.

Without warning, he reached both arms into the crib, and, ignoring the way Julie bristled, seized Devlin underneath both arms and lifted him into the air, peering intently at the child's face. The baby made incomprehensible noises, reaching small arms forward and trying to reach Kevin's face.

The moment might have been touching if the man hadn't noticed something _else_.

"His eyes are blue," he said softly, in a tone that made Julie narrow her eyes. The two adults locked gazes for a moment—his, dangerous, contemplating a betrayal that might ultimately break him, hers, defiant and self-righteous.

"Yes, they are," Julie said stiffly after a terse moment. "I think they're beautiful eyes."

Kevin turned away from her, staring down at the boy in his arms, before abruptly dumping Devlin back into the crib. The child shrieked at the rough treatment and began to cry. Julie looked at her son, more annoyed than concerned, then back to Kevin, who was staring blankly at the wall in front of the crib.

"I don't have blue eyes, Julie," he said, his voice nearing a growl.

"No," she conceded, waiting for him to make his point.

"You don't have blue eyes."

She placed a hand on her hip. "So?"

He turned to look at her, at once furious, nearly animalistic. "If _I_ have brown eyes and _you_ have black eyes, there's no way on earth or any other planet that kid could have _blue eyes_, you cheating _bitch_!" he shouted, storming over to her and seizing her shoulders with hands that could shatter stone.

"I should have known," he seethed, lifting her slightly above the ground so that they were face to face. "You never had any problem with it _before_."

It was a low blow, but Julie waited until he was done speaking, eyes cold. "Don't be stupid. Of course he's yours," she said, her voice clear. "I think my grandmother had blue eyes. Maybe one of your parents had them too." There was not a trace of fear in her eyes. It was one of the things that had caught Kevin's attention, years ago, back when they had all been teenagers united against a common enemy. Julie was never afraid of anything, not of alien monsters or the threat of getting caught cheating on her _perfect_ boyfriend Ben, or of Kevin himself, even when he had transformed into a hulking monstrosity who could tear her to shreds on a whim.

He had used to admire that about Julie.

But now it just pissed him off, like everything else about her.

"Don't give me that!" he shouted in a burning rage, pulling back one hand and then slapping her, hard, across the face. Kevin dropped her to the ground, where she crumpled in a heap.

Devlin, who had witnessed the attack through the bars of his crib, screamed. Both adults ignored him.

Touching a hand to her swelling cheek, Julie looked up at Kevin with an icy stare and nothing more. He wanted her to cry, but she refused to even allow him that satisfaction.

He considered going for a second blow, but then _something_ slammed into his side with the force of a rampaging animal and he and he shouted, toppling onto the ground even as Julie was getting to her feet, brushing a strand of shoulder-length black hair out of her face.

"Good Ship," she purred, and Kevin swore loudly before the thing rammed into him again, morphing between shapes so quickly that Kevin couldn't keep up.

The baby shrieked again, terrified of the familiar black creature attacking Daddy, and his fear mounted as the assault continued until Kevin was a bloodied mess. Julie watched with a grim, cold satisfaction, not noticing her son's heavy breathing or twitching.

Everyone in the room paused, however, when the baby let out a bloodcurdling scream and _held_ it out, then began to transform.

"Devlin?" Julie called out, paling, as Ship slunk out of the room, sensing its task was completed. Kevin stood, unconsciously wiping blood off his face and watching the boy with wide eyes.

The child was morphing, pale soft skin giving way to red tough flesh. Extra eyes appeared on the baby's terrified face, and a new set of arms sprouted from his abdomen; wings and a tail appeared—

Then it was over, and where a baby had once been sitting there laid a monstrous amalgam of alien parts forced onto a small body, which was suddenly too big for the crib, though much smaller than Kevin was in the same form. The crib splintered apart and crashed, spilling the child onto the floor.

Devlin continued shrieking and sobbing in a strange, inhuman voice, but neither of his parents made any move to get closer. They simply stood and stared for long minutes.

Finally, Kevin let out a sigh and said, "I guess it is my kid."


End file.
